5/23/2006 @ 3:00PM

First Jobs: Jeff Koons

I went door to door selling things–candies gift wrapping, bows and things like that. My parents would take me to nearby suburbs outside of York, Pa., where I grew up. I’d walk around with boxes of goods, knocking on doors. A little later, I’d also walk around golf courses selling soda.

How old were you?

I was 9 when I started, and I continued to do it for a few years.

How much did you make?

Typically, $25 a day selling candy. With the soda on the golf course, $50 was a good day.

What did you learn?

I learned I liked meeting people’s needs. That was a way to open up and meet new people. It was communication, and art is communication. You learn to accept yourself and others. I always felt we both benefited, and it showed me communal needs.

Who was your best, or worst, boss and why?

When I was an artist’s assistance in college, I worked for Ed Paschke, a well-known Chicago artist, who then was just starting his career. He taught me about the politics of the art world, to be sensitive to the work. Too many people shoot themselves in the foot.

What was your big break?

Getting a window display at the New Museum of Contemporary Art on 14th Street in Manhattan. It was my first show window. Also, I had a sociology professor in college, I forget her name, who taught me the different areas in which art can be involved–theology, sociology and so forth.

What has been your biggest failure?

That I haven’t made the work I’d like to do. People avoid the work they want to do the most. At this moment, I really want to make something strong. I try to tell myself I can’t waste the day. I haven’t been able to identify exactly what it is.

What is the worst thing about work?

How the placement of time can take you from your family.

What is the best thing about work?

The opportunity to focus, getting an allotment of time for one activity.